Hexham-based EGGER is urging the UK to expand its woodland cover to help sustain the nation's supply of domestically-produced softwood timber.

This call follows a House of Commons Committee report published in 2023 indicating a shortfall in supply if significant expansion of forest cover is not implemented.

EGGER, aligned with the forestry sector, is advocating the need for more investment to make the UK’s timber supply self-sufficient.

Not only will this support jobs, but it will also contribute to a lower carbon construction strategy and protect long term material supplies for commercial, construction, and furniture industries across the UK.

The forestry industry currently supports around 33,000 jobs in the UK, contributing £2.85 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy in 2023 alone.

Saplings planted out that were  grown in a nursery 5 miles from EGGER Hexham    (Image: EGGER)

Max McLaughlan, head of wood purchasing and forestry at EGGER (UK), said: "As a society we need wood, to build and furnish our homes, to package our goods, to write and print on, and in the UK, coniferous forests fulfil some of that need."

He added: "At EGGER we use some of that timber to make useful and long lived products that can be recycled at the end of their use to keep the carbon locked up for decades.

"We all need wood, we should grow much more of it."

Given that the UK currently grows less than one-fifth of the wood it uses, the need for more planting is evident.

80 per cent of wood used in Britain for production purposes is imported.

In 2021, Britain was the third-largest net importer of wood in the world.

Andrew Laidler, sales director, Decorative Products, for EGGER UK & Ireland, stressed: "The wood based panel industry is commercially and environmentally significant to the wider UK economy.

"With touch points across critically important commercial and consumer market sectors, it is an essential supply chain vital for economic success and environmental security for the country.

"It is imperative that the government recognises the importance of supporting and improving productive timber planting targets, in order to maintain timber availability to important markets that simply could not exist without supply from the wood panel industry, which in turn could not survive without a reliable timber supply